Gift question?

While i was a bachelor, i used to be invited by my married friends for either breakfast/lunch/dinner. I used to whole heartedly take up those invitations and enjoy the home cooked food. Unless it is a very "official" invitation, i would not buy any gifts for the hosts. Recently as a means of "Paying it forward", i have been inviting my bachelor friends for some home cooked food. One such friend always brings up one or the other gift all the time. So, is it a norm to bring gifts to "unofficial" invitations? And also I'm not sure whether i should ask him, "Dude, please let me know if you do not want to be invited" or "Dude, should we invite you more frequently"?